Communications devices such as cellular telephones, mobile communication devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops, and the like are becoming more prevalent as technology advances and makes these devices more powerful and more affordable. These devices are also being constructed with increasing capabilities and can now perform functions that have in the past been performed by dedicated special function communications devices. For instance, a common mobile communications device today may have computing capabilities that allow the device to process multimedia content, the ability to communicate with data networks such as the Internet, a display than can render high quality still images and video, audio capabilities that allow the device to play music and video soundtracks, as well as the ability to place and receive traditional mobile telephone calls and text messages.
The expanding capabilities of mobile communications devices have allowed the improvement and enhancement of more traditional technologies. For example, voicemail has traditionally been an audio-only feature that requires a telephone connection to a voicemail server. Traditionally, a user would receive a message waiting notification that a voicemail is available, and the user would then have to dial into a voicemail server to listen to the message. Thanks to technological advances, visual voicemail is available on many mobile communications devices. Visual voicemail presents a visual interface to a user's voicemail box and allows the user to view attributes of voicemail and manipulate voicemail in various ways that were previously not possible. A user may delete or save voicemail through the visual interface without having to place a telephone call to a voicemail server. A user may also be able to see who the voicemail is from, when it was sent or received, and other characteristic of the voicemail without actually placing a telephone call to a voicemail server. A user may also respond to a visual voicemail message with a reply visual voicemail, thus enabling two way communication through a visual voicemail system. Visual voicemail systems may also provide a means for a sender to include multimedia content to accompany a voice message or to be provided instead of a voice message.
With the increased use of mobile devices to access features such as visual voicemail has come an increase in distractions while performing everyday tasks, such as driving. Reading or composing text portions of a visual voicemail can be very dangerous if one is currently operating an automobile or performing another task that requires full attention. On the other hand, while sitting at home or at work, or while otherwise performing tasks that are not dangerous and/or do not require full attention, reading or viewing text or video portions of visual voicemail may be perfectly safe. What are needed in the art are systems and methods for improving the safety and functionality of visual voicemail presentation.